Zip line tour coming to Minocqua

Jul. 14, 2013

Written by

Carolyn Tiry

Daily Herald Media

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MINOCQUA — A new thrill ride that will fly you through Minocqua’s tree tops will open next summer.

The Northwoods Zip Line, owned by Josh Russart, will begin construction this month after two years of raising funds and working with Minocqua officials to develop a lease agreement. On zip line tours, participants are strapped into a harnesses, hooked onto a pulley attached to a wire suspended from trees and towers, and sent flying through the forest.

“It was a no-brainer,” Russart said of the decision to open the attraction in Minocqua. Russart lives in Oconomowoc but owns a cabin in Manitowish Waters, so he’s familiar with the entertainment offered in Northwoods vacationland.

Russart said the tour will last about two hours and will include seven or eight zip lines — the longest of which will be 1,000 feet long and one of which will fly over a small lake — multiple suspension bridges, and a couple of spiral staircases to gain elevation. The whole $800,000 enterprise will be built on 110 acres Russart is leasing from the town of Minocqua.

“We are planning and are going to build one of the top zip line and canopy tours in Wisconsin and in the Midwest,” he said. “We didn’t want to build something overnight.”

The entrance to the tour will be off of Highway 51, just south of Gun Club Road. Russart expects construction to begin any week; he plans to hold a grand opening during Memorial Day weekend next year.

Minocqua Town Chairman Mark Hartzheim said that what the town really liked about the zip line concept was three-fold: the integrity of the land will stay intact, the business is not competition for any existing businesses in the area, and it likely will draw visitors from all over.

“This is something brand new that is not competing with anything else,” he said. “It should be a boost to the other attractions and services.”

Hartzheim said the lease is for 10 years and $94,000 over those 10 years — a good deal for land that “isn’t really suitable for commercial development.” The town retained the ability to develop the land recreationally in the future. The town also gets 1.5 percent of the business’s revenue for the first five years and 2 percent of revenue for the second five years.

Carolyn Tiry can be reached at 715-845-0608. Follow her on Twitter as @carolyntiry.